This section describes approaches that could be employed, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or employed. Hence, unless explicitly specified otherwise, any approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application, and any approaches described in this section are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
The modernization of the electrical power grid requires a high demand for flexibility and changeability: example modernization can include Smart Grid, Distribution Automation, and the integration of Distributed Energy Resources. The electrical power grid is composed as a power grid topology comprising generators, power transformers, busbars, transmission lines, loads, and switching components (e.g., circuit breakers). The components of the power grid topology can have sensors, actuators, controllers, etc. that are interconnected via a mesh of communication links that form a communications architecture having a corresponding network topology.
The power grid topology is controlled, via the communications architecture, by a centralized control system that communicates (via a Utility Wide Area Network) with multiple substations that deploy localized substation automation networks for control one or more Intelligent Electronic Devices (IEDs) in the substations. The centralized control system can communicate with the substations using a standardized interface such as a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.